An Object Lesson
by Caribou Kid
Summary: This is "what happens next" following the episode The Edge of Doom where Captain Crane is suspected of being an imposter and Admiral Nelson is ordered to break him to find out if it is Lee Crane or an enemy agent.


WHN – The Edge of Doom

**An Object Lesson**

Lee Crane, Captain of the SSRN Seaview, the Nelson Institute for Marine Research submarine, hit the button to close the garage door and then wearily climbed out of his Cobra. It had been a bitch of a mission; he was beat beyond belief and was still both angry and disappointed in his boss and adopted father Admiral Harriman Nelson and his best friend and XO Chip Morton. The cruise had been a nightmare especially after he found out near the end that he had been suspected of being an imposter and the Admiral and Chip had set out to break him to prove his guilt.

'How the hell didn't they know it was me?' Lee asked himself for what seemed the thousandth time. 'We've known each other for nearly 20 years yet they couldn't come up with a single question about our past history that an imposter wouldn't have a chance of knowing the answer to?'

Instead Nelson chose to belittle him, countermand his orders, and make him appear incompetent in front of his crew in hopes of making him lose his cool and reveal himself as the imposter. Harri had let the actual saboteur, disguised as Sharkey, terrorize him, giving him virtually carte blanche authorization to 'test' him, while apparently not even giving serious consideration to the possibility that Sharkey could be the imposter. The fact that both Chip and Sharkey were taken into Nelson's confidence even though they were both potential suspects tore at him no end. 'I thought that we were closer than that, that our bond was stronger than that, that he would have known I was his 'son' and captain.' Lee fumed to himself.

Stepping into the house from the garage Lee quickly started divesting himself of his uniform as he moved towards the bedroom. Once rid of his khakis he donned his favorite shorts and tee shirt and moved to the kitchen pulling a cold beer from the refrigerator. He quickly uncapped the bottle and chugged the majority of the contents. He sighed heavily as the knots of tension that had taken up residence in his shoulders and stomach since the start of the last mission, began to relax. He finished off the bottle with one more swig, grabbed another and moved out onto his deck overlooking the blue Pacific.

Lee lowered himself onto his favorite chair, propped his feet up on the deck rail and stared out at the waves gently washing over the beach. He popped the top on the next bottle of beer and sipped at the contents this time. He kept replaying the mission over and over in his mind and still couldn't believe that Harry had gone after him like he had. As he sat there watching the waves and going over the events he heard his phone ring. Not in the mood to talk to anyone, he let it continue until the answering machine picked up. He listened distractedly as the caller left his message.

"Lee, you there? It's Harri. Saturday night I'm cooking up some steaks with all the trimmings. Chip and Jamie are coming over and I was hoping you would be up to joining us. Dinner will be at 1900. See you then. Bye."

Lee snorted at the thought of spending any additional time with Harry or Chip. He had spent the majority of the trip home doing his best to stay out of their way. When forced to deal with them he was the consummate professional but there was none of the easy camaraderie that usually characterized their interactions. He had swapped watches with O'Brien and Michaels so that he didn't have to spend much time working with Chip and avoided the wardroom like the plague either skipping meals or having them brought to his cabin.

He was aware that the cool distance he maintained from his boss and his XO was picked up on by his crew but he quite honestly didn't give a damn at the moment; there was just too much anger over his treatment to risk having it erupt in front of them. Lee understood orders and had no problem with the task Harry had been given; he most definitely had issues with how he carried them out. The man was a genius but apparently something as simple as asking a question that only Lee would know the answer to was beyond his comprehension in this matter.

Lee began coughing hard as his lungs still purged the remnants of the smoke he'd inhaled following 'Sharkey's' antics in the circuitry room. They damn near killed him! He felt the anger and disappointment spike again as he fought to control his cough. The thing that really set him off was that no one even said they were sorry. Nelson's comment about there being not much trust left when Lee caught him disabling FS-1came across as though Lee had caused it all; that he had somehow broken faith.

Lee got up and went back into the house to get a drink of water to cool his throat and another beer to cool his anger. He stopped by the answering machine and replayed the message. He hadn't missed the fact that Harri had included Jamie in the invitation. Jamie hadn't been party to the plot against him so Nelson had arranged it so they wouldn't be inclined to discuss what had occurred. As the message ended Lee decided to ignore the invitation and just get out of town for a few days so he could cool down and gain some perspective on things before he made a decision on how to handle it.

Lee took his fresh beer and went back out onto the deck to watch the sunset. As he finished off his beer he was suddenly struck with an idea. The more he pondered it the more he found it to be the best response to what had just happened on Seaview. He would take the Admiral up on his invitation and hopefully give him and Chip a lesson in creative problem solving.

"Do you think he'll actually show up," Chip asked the Admiral as he shucked the ears of corn for dinner.

"I'm hoping so Chip. I haven't heard from him since we docked six days ago which is unusual; but then again I don't think he's ever been this pissed at me before." Nelson responded as he worked on putting together a tossed salad.

"Me either. I've left multiple messages and he hasn't returned one of them. Every time I stopped by he's been gone and he didn't leave word with anyone about where he was going. We've had our moments in the past but it's never gone on this long. Usually within a day or two we've hooked up, talked over the problem and gotten back on track. I suppose its best just to give him the space he needs to calm down."

Both men stood quietly thinking back on their last mission as they finished up their kitchen tasks. Just as they were cleaning up they heard Jamie announce his arrival.

"Hello Harri, I'm here."

"Hey Jamie, we're here in the kitchen, come on in." Nelson replied.

"Mmm smells good. What all's on the menu for tonight?" Jamie said smiling at his friends.

"We've got some very nice filets, baked potatoes with all the trimmings, fresh corn on the cob, tossed salad, and fresh fruit cobbler with ice cream to top it off."

"I hope you've got a wheelbarrow because that's the only way I'm making it out to my car after a meal like that," Jamie said with a laugh. "Where's Lee, he here yet?"

"No, he hasn't shown up yet," Chip replied looking down at his watch. It was 1900 and Lee Crane was never late. Chip walked over to the fridge and grabbed some beers and looked at Nelson and Jamieson to see if they wanted one. Both men nodded and gladly accepted the chilled beverages.

"Let's head on out to the patio," Nelson said as he took a drink, "I need to fire up the grill so it's ready for the corn and the meat once Lee arrives." Harri mentally crossed his fingers that Lee would in fact show up and join them for dinner.

They moved out to the patio sipping on their beer watching the sunset, making small talk as the Admiral puttered with the barbeque. Chip checked his watch again; it was almost 1930 and still no Lee. As he reached into his back pocket to pull out his phone to give his friend a call he heard Lee call out from the front room.

"Admiral, you here?"

"Ah Lee, yes glad you're here. We're out on the patio just waiting for you so we can start the steaks." Nelson replied with a huge mental sigh of relief.

Lee moved through the house and joined Nelson, Jamie and Chip on the patio. He nodded his greetings to the men. He was still reserved and coolly polite causing Chip and Harri to exchange looks. Jamie too was aware of the strain between the command crew and though not completely privy to what went on during the last cruise knew that it had driven a wedge between them.

"There are cold beers in the patio fridge, help yourself Lee." Nelson said.

"Thank you, sir," Lee replied as he walked over to the small refrigerator and grabbed a beer. He uncapped the bottle and took a large swig. He turned back around and just stared at the other three men. They all stood there quietly looking at each other for a moment.

"Well, let me go get the steaks and corn so we can get this all going," Harri said breaking the awkward silence. He moved to go back inside to collect his BBQ utensils and foodstuffs. "Chip it's so nice out tonight, why don't we eat out here on the patio. Would you mind grabbing the plates and silverware and bringing them out?"

"Not at all sir, I'd be happy to help." Chip replied as he followed the Admiral into the house.

As they left Jamie watched Lee's expression; it remained impassive and controlled. These casual gatherings were usually one of the few times Lee felt comfortable enough to relax his captain persona becoming almost gregarious, but not tonight. He was definitely concerned, the atmosphere was decidedly tense and not what any of them needed after the last mission. "Are you feeling all right Lee? You seem rather quiet tonight."

"I'm fine Jamie, just a lot on my mind." Lee responded quietly.

"Are you still coughing from the smoke you inhaled on the last mission? I need you to come on in next week and let me take a quick listen to make sure everything is okay."

"I had a few fits the first day or so after we got back, but unless I've been exercising strenuously I haven't been bothered." Lee answered.

"Good to hear, but I still need you to check in with me next Monday."

"Sure Jamie. So how's Sharkey, has he recovered completely from the attack on him?"

"Yes, Sharkey's doing well. He had a mild concussion and the aftereffects have pretty much disappeared. He's beating himself up over letting someone get the drop on him but he's raring to get back to work. He'll be on full duty come Monday." Jamie replied.

"That's great to hear," Lee said. He finished off his beer and moved to the fridge to get another. "Ready for a fresh one Jamie?"

Jamie nodded accepting the bottle from Lee. Lee moved over to the edge of the patio and stood there looking out over the ocean. Jamie moved next to him to take in the view as well.

Meanwhile in the kitchen Harri loaded up his platter with steaks, buttered and seasoned the corn and wrapped it back up in the husks for placement on the grill. Chip was busy pulling out plates, napkins and silverware for their meal.

"Well at least he showed up, though I don't think he's cooled down any," Chip said as he grabbed the salt and pepper shakers.

"Oh I think that's a safe assumption. I just hope we can get him relaxed enough to open up and talk to us, even if it is just about the weather." Harri replied. "I figured he would have said something but he's playing clam exceedingly well right now. I wonder why he even came if he has no intention of really talking to us."

"He probably looked at your invitation as an order. The ever correct Captain Crane wouldn't dare disobey a direct order." Chip replied. "It's like the first day at the Academy all over again; his controlled expression, reticent behavior and polite but cool demeanor. Geez what a sense of déjà vu."

"Come on let's head on out and see if we can crack this nut." Harri said with a slight smile.

"Isn't that what got us into trouble the first time?" quipped Chip. Harri rolled his eyes and just shrugged.

They grabbed their stuff and headed out of the kitchen and back to the patio. Harri moved to the grill and slapped the steaks and corn over the hot coals and Chip set to doling out the plates and place settings. Jamie and Lee turned around and watched the activities quietly.

"Those are great looking steaks, Harri," Jamie commented hoping to get the conversation started and kill all the dead air.

"Thanks Jamie, I found a new butcher near the office that has exceptional meats. I had these specially cut." Harri replied. He nervously rolled the corn over the grill and shifted the steaks to get the desired grill marks he wanted.

"Smells great sir," Chip chimed in as he walked to the fridge and grabbed another beer. He uncapped his drink and moved to stand near Lee. "What you been up to this week, Lee? I haven't heard from you and every time I stopped by you were gone."

"Oh things," Lee responded quietly. "Mainly just doing a lot of thinking."

"What about?" Chip inquired.

"Stuff." Lee replied evasively. "Did you get the circuitry room issues all cleared up?"

"Yeah, we had that complete on Tuesday; pretty easy fix." Chip responded, not at all thrilled about being derailed from his line of inquiry.

"Okay gents, the steaks are ready. Grab a seat at the table and I'll be right out with the rest of the meal." Harri called. He placed the corn and steaks on the table and then went inside to get the potatoes and salad. He set them on the table and took his seat. "All right don't be shy, dig in."

"This looks great, Harri." Jamie offered as he stabbed a steak on the platter and shifted it to his plate. Chip and Lee also nodded their agreement and set to passing the various foods around the table to each other.

Once everyone had plated their meal Harri picked up his beer. "To good friends."

"To good friends," the rest of the men replied and clinked their longnecks lightly together at the center of the table. They all took a swig and then tucked into their meal.

As they ate Jamie, Harri and Chip chatted idly about what had gone on at the Institute the previous week as Lee sat quietly just taking it in, not seemingly interested in the dialog. When asked direct questions he gave brief answers not delving into much detail. Lee could tell that his evasive answers and failure to actively engage in the conversation was really starting to get to Chip and Harri. During the course of dinner Lee had noticed Chip surreptitiously glancing down at his watch a number of times.

Once the main course was finished and the dishes cleared from the table they sat back and watched the last strands of light diminish from the horizon as it slipped into twilight. Chip snatched another quick look at his watch. "Got a hot date tonight?" Lee finally asked.

Chip looked up quickly and blushed. "Yeah, Erin is getting in on a late flight tonight and I'm going to pick her up at the airport."

"Erin McGillicudy? She's the redhead isn't she?" Lee replied.

"Yes," Chip replied bouncing his eyebrows.

"I thought you swore off redheads after Scarlet; something about them being too fickle and mercurial." Lee remarked with a wicked smile.

Chip flushed about another 10 shades of red as the thought of Scarlet Sorensen rushed back to memory. Harri and Jamie were immediately amused and jumped on the rosy Mr. Morton.

"I don't believe I know her name Chip," Harri said.

"Ancient history, Admiral," Chip answered shooting Lee a lethal glare. "Not much to tell, really sir. She was one of the girls I went out with my last year at the Academy. We were hot and heavy for a while and then just went our separate ways."

"Oh come now, Chip," Jamie struck like a shark in a feeding frenzy. "With a reaction like that there has to be a whole lot more to the story than that."

Chip blushed again and shook his head. "Nope, nothing more than a passing fancy. You know how it is as that age."

"Really? Now I am intrigued," Harri answered. "How about it Lee, what isn't Chip here telling us about the young lady?"

Lee smiled evilly again and began relating the tale. "As Chip said it was our last year and one Saturday night Chip had taken Scarlet out for an evening of dining and dancing. Apparently that went really well as they had retired to Scarlet's apartment for a nightcap. They were having a grand time until her boyfriend arrived at her apartment unexpectedly. I got a call in the middle of the night to come over to the young lady's residence to rescue our gallant midshipman here from her 4th floor balcony. When I get there I find Chip out on the balcony in just his skivvies holding his cell phone and the rest of his attire lying on the ground four stories below. Apparently in the rush to get Chip and his gear out of the house before her boyfriend found it she threw his clothes just a little too hard out the door." Lee offered barely controlling his laughter.

"I had to break out my rappelling gear and throw a rope up to Romeo so he could shinny down to the ground without being discovered. Turns out Scarlet's boyfriend played defensive tackle for the University of Maryland Terrapins and was a bit of the jealous type. So I'm standing there watching Chip work his way down the rope in his tighty-whities when a patrol car comes rolling down the alley. I grabbed Chip's clothes and quickly ducked out of sight and hoped they didn't notice the rope trailing down from the balcony or Chip hanging there between the second and third floors. They had to have seen him and decided to make him sweat it out because that was the slowest drive by I've ever seen. I think they were going about 1 mile an hour. Chip must have hung there for over 5 minutes. I'm surprised he hung on that long; by the time he got down he was nearly blue and shivering so hard you could barely see him. Did I mention it was December?" Lee said and then finally lost it as did the rest of the men.

Chip sat there just glowering at Lee trying hard to keep from laughing himself. "Thanks a lot buddy. I had sincerely hoped I would never have to think about that again. I swear to god I didn't know she had a boyfriend." he replied and then finally broke out laughing sheepishly. "Geez are none of my secrets safe?"

As the laughter died down Harri went into the kitchen and came back with dessert and a fine brandy to finish off the meal. Chip was subjected to numerous questions about the whole affair as Lee sat back chuckling, eating his cobbler and sipping his brandy.

Finally having had enough ribbing Chip tried to turn the tables. "Come on I can't be the only one who's had a little lapse in judgment when it comes to affairs of the heart." The other men gave a quick shake of their heads, each trying to look as innocent as a new born babe, each indicating that it was only Chip.

"Really Admiral, what about Countess De La Rena the time the Nautilus was in port on that good will visit to Naples? She had pretty much decided that you were the entrée of the evening." Lee offered up.

Now it was Harri's turn to demonstrate just how many shades of red that he could turn. Finding himself off the hook Chip gladly jumped on the bait that Lee had thrown out. "Really sir, what happened?"

It was Nelson's turn to glower at Lee as he tried to deflect the attention now focused on him. "That was just a misunderstanding; you know problems in translation. My Italian isn't the best." Harri replied squirming slightly in his seat.

Since Harri was giving no indication that he was going to divulge the nature of the event, Chip and Jamie's eyes fell expectantly on Lee for further elucidation. Lee smiled another wicked smile and cleared his throat.

"You wouldn't dare?" Harri blustered at him.

"We're all friends here Admiral," Lee said with a wink. Harri added a few more shades to his display of reds.

"Apparently at the official welcome gala the Countess took a real shine to the Admiral, I mean Captain at the time, and the attraction looked to be mutual. They were deeply engrossed in conversation most of the evening and sampling all the fine wines our Italian hosts had brought out for the celebration. Somewhere around midnight we noticed that the Skipper and the Countess were missing from the hall. We all pretty much figured the Skipper had scored so we all went on our way. I had the late duty so I returned to the boat to take my watch. About 0200 I get this frantic call from the Skipper ordering me to come pick him up. He was adamant that I turn the watch over to someone else, get changed into civvies, go to his cabin and grab his civilian attire and come collect him, **alone**."

"I was somewhat concerned so I quickly got Lt. Mathews to relieve me, changed clothes, picked up a pair of pants and a shirt from the Skipper's cabin, then grabbed one of the jeeps dockside and headed up to the Countess's villa. It was almost 30 miles to her place from the base and it was tough making any decent time because the roads were so twisty. Anyway, I finally make it to the gate of her villa about 0400 where I see the Skipper flagging me down from outside the gate. His uniform was all wrinkled and dirty and his pants had a huge tear in the seat, from what I don't know. As I pull over he jumps in the car and tells me to do an about face and get us back down the road. After we went about 10 miles he tells me to pull over and he grabs his clothes hops out of the jeep and changes out of his uniform."

"As he climbed back in he looked me dead in the eye and said, _"I swear to god I didn't know she was married."_ The lord of the manor had apparently returned home unexpectedly and the Countess was not thrilled about letting him know she had company. She made him go out the second floor window and down the drainpipe to get out of the house. He caught his trousers on something on his way down and ripped a huge hole in the seat."

"I love this part," Lee said barely able to speak because of the laughter, "he fixed me with that Medusa-like stare he has and said _'So help me if any of this gets out I will break you from a Mister to a Miss! Do you read me Lt. Crane?'_ I just nodded my understanding enthusiastically knowing that if I opened my mouth to reply I would have busted out laughing and found out what keel hauling was really like."

By now Chip and Jamie were damn near rolling on the floor with laughter. Tears were streaming down their faces. Harri was now chuckling reluctantly along, all the while fixing Lee with the 'paybacks will be hell' stare.

"I suppose you think the statute of limitations has run out on that one don't you Miss Crane." Harri replied. With that the whole group broke out in laughter again. "God Lee I had hoped to go to my grave with that little slip never coming to light. Let's not forget I've got more than one story about you that I could share with the group." he chuckled.

As the laughter finally died out and the group composed themselves Harri caught a very deliberate and satisfied look in Lee's eye. "Yes Admiral, that is very true, there is any number of incidents that just we are privy to and if I sit here much longer I'm sure they will come spilling out. However gentlemen it's getting late and I don't want to detain Mr. Morton here in his quest to play with fire again, so I'll bid you all a good night. Thank you for the meal and the evening Admiral, I truly enjoyed it."

With that Lee got up and exited the Admiral's house. Chip immediately followed suit as he did need to pick up his lady friend at the airport. Jamie rose and helped the Admiral collect the dessert dishes and followed him into the kitchen.

"Well the evening turned out better than I thought, given Lee's demeanor when he first arrived," said Jamie as he scraped the plates and handed them to the Admiral to put in the dishwasher.

"For some more than others, Jamie," Harri replied with a blush and a chuckle. "He definitely made his point."

"What do you mean, Harri? Did those stories have something to do with the last mission?"

"They had everything to do with the last mission and it was a very pointed object lesson even if it was delivered humorously."

Jamie stared at the Admiral questioning his meaning. "You will let me know what just happened then, won't you?"

"Yes Jamie, once I've spoken to Lee, I'll let you in on the lesson."

"All right Harri, please do that. Well I think I'll shove off now and let you relax. Thanks for the dinner and have a good evening. I'll see you next week."

"Good night, Jamie. Drive carefully."

Once Jamie had left Harri poured himself a shot of the family label and moved out to the patio again to sit and sip on his glass of scotch. The more he mulled over Lee's airing of his and Chip's 'dirty' laundry the angrier he became, with himself. Finally unable to sit still any longer he got up, grabbed his car keys and headed out the door.

It was nearly midnight by the time he reached Lee's beach house. The lights were still on in the living room so Harri headed up to the front door and rang the bell. He stood there for a few minutes but there was no answer. As nice as the evening was he figured Lee must be out on the deck and didn't hear the bell. He let himself in with the key Lee had given him and walked through the house out to the deck.

"Evening Harri," Lee said quietly as he sipped on his glass of B&B.

"Evening Lee. Mind if I have one of those?"

"Help yourself, you know where everything is." Lee responded.

Harri went back inside and poured himself a stiff one and moved out to the deck to join his son. He pulled one of the deck chairs over next to Lee and sat down. He eased back in the chair, took a sip of his liquor and let out a deep sigh.

"You left pretty quickly after dinner." Harri observed.

"Yeah, well I was kind of tired." Lee replied.

"Lee I got your message loud and clear tonight. I know you've been angry with me, and I expect even disappointed in me since the last mission and I can't blame you one bit. I am so sorry about what happened and have no excuse for why I let it happen. As you illustrated so well tonight, there are any number of things that only you and I or you and Chip are privy to and it would have resolved things so much easier if I had just asked about something I know only you and I have shared. Can you forgive me son?"

Lee turned his head to regard Harri. "I forgive you Dad. But I will let you know that what you did hurt more than anything I can ever recall. I've spent much of the last week trying to resolve why you couldn't come up with some way to verify my identity other than trying to break me. I even gave serious thought to just resigning and going back to the Navy I was so pissed off; at least with them it's never personal. I think what really hurt the most is you never once said you were sorry. Family is a relatively new concept to me and if this is what it feels like to be betrayed by someone you love, I'm not too sure I want to have one."

They sat there quietly for a while as Harri digested Lee's words; he paled at the thought of Lee leaving Seaview, NIMR and him. He stared at Lee for a moment reading the hurt and disappointment in his eyes. "I understand Son and I'll do my damnedest not to let anything like that happen again." He laid his hand on Lee's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Are we good now?"

"Yes sir, we're good." Lee said with a smile. They both sat back and sipped on their drink and watched the stars in silence. After a few moments Lee added. "I expect Chip will show up sometime tomorrow morning and we'll have much the same conversation I'm sure."

"You don't have to wait that long Lee." Chip said as he came out onto the deck.

"Chip what are you doing here? I thought you were picking up Erin." Lee said.

"I did. I got her home and told her I had to make a long overdue apology to my brother. She was surprisingly understanding about it and told me to go take care of it then come back when I was done. Maybe I've been a little hasty in writing off redheads." Chip replied with a smile.

"It could have waited until tomorrow Chip." Lee said with a smile.

"No Lee, it couldn't. You made your point rather eloquently tonight. I'm truly sorry for my part in the whole thing. I should have pushed harder to find another way to determine if you were an imposter. As you illustrated so well tonight there are any number of things that only you and I know about, well I guess one less after tonight." Chip said with smile. "Please forgive me bro."

"I appreciate the apology Chip and I accept. As I told the Admiral what happened really hurt. I felt as though I had been totally set adrift and had no idea why you had both turned on me. I have no problem with the orders but your method of carrying them out was cruel. It's not something I'm used to from you or the Admiral." Lee replied. "So you got time for a drink or do you need to get back right away?"

"I've always got time for you bro." Chip said as he turned to go into the house. He quickly poured himself a shot of B&B and joined Lee and Harri back on the deck.

"To friends and family." Lee offered as he raised his glass towards Harri and Chip.

"To friends and family." They answered in return toasting forgiveness and renewal of their bonds of love and friendship.

The End.


End file.
